The Zach Walters era, which began in July 2011, is now over as the Washington Nationals have dealt him to the Cleveland Indians for SS-2B Asdrubal Cabrera and cash considerations.

The sad Spike pic is obligatory, of course, but the reality is that this is probably better for Walters in the long run, given that he’s currently blocked by Ian Desmond primarily and Danny Espinosa secondarily, though I’m quite sure some folks will disagree. With minutes to go as of this writing, we can only hope that perhaps some other guys who are similarly blocked might get a chance elsewhere.

Walters was batting .300/.358/.608 with 15HR and 48RBI in 60 games for Syracuse this season when he was recalled to Washington last week when Ryan Zimmerman went on the DL again with what’s been reported to be a severe (Grade 3) hamstring tear, per MLB.com’s Bill Ladson. The trade will solidify the parent club’s infield with Anthon Rendon playing 3B, Desmond at SS, and Cabrera at 2B.

Syracuse and the Paw-Sox decided to put up a box score of binary code filled with “1’s” and “0”s last night in Pawtucket. Back-to-back doubles by former Washington Nationals Eury Perez and Steven “FREE ME” Souza scored a 1st-inning run for the Chiefs before Mookie “Not Bill Buckner’s Nemesis” Betts immediately erased A.J. Cole’s lead with a leadoff homer in the home half. Garin Cecchini added to the Paw-Sox Power Punishment of Syracuse with a one-out dinger of his own. Jhonatan “The Green Onion” Solano’s double play scored a run, but effectively killed a rally in the following top of the 3rd. While Danny Stange and Manny Delcarmen effectively kept the score tied at 2-2, former Washington National Ryan “Firework” Mattheus took the loss by allowing two singles through the infield and a sacrifice fly for the loss that shaved the Syracuse lead to one in the I.L. North.Roster moves: OF Destin Hood placed on the 7-Day DL retroactive to July 24, C Jeff Howell activated from the 7-Day DL.

In a shocking development, the Harrisburg offense woke up in a 6-3 victory over the Richmond Flying Squirrels. Harrisburg, not Richmond, flew out to an early 1-0 lead with a 1st-inning homer from Drew Vettleson. Mr. Vettleson, like the rest of the Harrisburg Senators, then proceeded to take the next 11½ innings off at the plate. Meanwhile, Richmond tied up the game at 1-1 off of starter John Simms when Matt “I’m a Toughy” Duffy doubled, Jarrett “Squirrelyman” Parker singled and Devin “Better at Basketball” Harris hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 6th. Harrisburg exploded for five runs in the 13th with a sacrifice fly by Jason Martinson following a leadoff walk, a hit by pitch, and a Fundamental Baseball Sacrifice Bunt to advance the runners. Quincy “The Dude” Latimore ended a 406-game drought for Harrisburg with a two-out grand slam. Harrisburg would need those insurance runs because Richmond fought back and scored two runs off of Robert “Happy House” Benincasa before ultimately falling 6-3.

Isaac Ballou homered with two outs in the bottom of the 9th to force extras, where the Pelicans ‘pen shut down the P-Nats for seven innings to secure a 10-6 win and the three-game sweep. Khayyan Norfork, who pitched scoreless 15th, took the loss in the 16th on a grand slam following an intentional walk to set up a possible double (or triple) play. Randolph Oduber once again threatened to cycle but missed the longball to “only” go 4-for-7 to lead the 13-hit parade for Potomac.

Hagerstown — OFF DAY
Hagerstown begins a brutal 14-road-games-in-18-days stretch with four against Charleston as they cling to a ½ game lead in the Sally North with 33 days left in the regular season.Roster moves: LHP Brett Mooneyham placed on the 7-Day DL; RHP Wander Suero activated from the 7-Day DL.

A seven-run 2nd put this one away early for the Cyclones as they blew away the Doubledays, 9-4. James Bourque took the brunt of the beating with seven runs (three earned) allowed on five hits and two walks over just an inning and 2/3rds. Matt Swynenberg came out of retirement for two shutout frames with two hits, no walks, and two whiffs. Cutter Dykstra and Raudy Read both went 2-for-4 with a run scored as the Auburn nine totaled eight hits and five walks on offense.Roster move: RHP Matt Swynenberg assigned from Washington.

In the opener, the G-Marlins broke open a 1-0 game with a four-run 4th as they shut out the G-Nats, 5-0. Felipe Rivero tossed two scoreless innings with one hit and one walk allowed while striking out two. Omar Poveda took the loss with four charged on three hits and three walks. Dionicio Rosario connected for the sole extra-base hit as the G-Nats were limited to just three hits total.

In the second game, the G-Nats returned the favor with a five-run 4th to break a 2-2 deadlock as they held on for a 7-4 win to split the doubleheader. Kyle Simmons got the start and let in one run on three hits and two walks over three and a 1/3rd. The win went to Jean Ramirez with an identical line but in one inning fewer. Kelvin Gutierrez and Jakson Reetz combined for five hits, two runs, three doubles, and three RBI to lead the G-Nats offense.Roster moves: RHP Omar Poveda assigned from Harrisburg for minor-league rehab; RHP Domenick Mancini reassigned from Auburn.

Two D-Nat pitchers combined on a one-hitter as the D-Nats shut out the D-Cards, 5-0. Joan Baez struck out a season high of nine while walking just one over the first six innings. Miguel Vargas was perfect over the final three to earn his second save. Luis Vilorio reached base three times and drove in two while Davinson Pimentel and Anderson Franco both went 2-for-5 as the D-Nats pounded out 11 hits for the game.

Syracuse — OFF DAY
With an extra day’s rest, the Chiefs begin a three-game series against the second-place PawSox in an unusual position: They’re in first place and do not *need* to sweep… or avoid being swept.

Austin Voth pounded the strike zone in his Eastern League debut, but two Richmond Flying Squirrels pounded him back to turn what could have been a great outing into a merely serviceable one. In the 2nd, Richmond’s cleanup hitter, Jarrett Parker, hit a leadoff homer to right. In the 4th, Voth’s own wildness sparked a Richmond rally. After a leadoff single and a fielder’s choice, Voth threw a wild pitch and then walked Parker later in the at bat. After a pop up, it looked he would wiggle out of trouble, but Angel Villalona’s two-out double plated both baserunners and left Voth on the hook for the loss. Harrisburg’s offense remained feeble but did manage to decorate the scoreboard with two 8th-inning runs on Quincy Latimore’s homer as part of a three-hit effort.

The Pelicans clinched the season series with an 8-6 decision for their 11th win in 19 games versus the P-Nats. Starter Matt Spann took the loss as the rats-with-wings swooped on him for five runs on nine hits over six innings to hand him his fifth loss. An error led to three unearned runs in the top of the 7th to push the Myrtle Beach lead to 8-2. Potomac answered in the bottom of the 8th with three runs on five straight hits but had no more in the tank in the 9th as they could only muster a one-out walk by Randolph Oduber, who led the Potomac offense with a 2-for-4 night.

Hagerstown broke out for three in the bottom of the 6th and added one in the 7th for an 8-4 win over Greenville. Nick Pivetta got the benefit of the offense as he let in all four Drive runs on ten hits, including a solo HR in the 4th. He walked one and struck out seven while earning his 12th save. Jake Johansen turned in his first scoreless outing in 20 appearances with two shutout frames to close out the game. Eight of nine batters reached base as the Suns scorched the opposing hurlers for 13 hits and 10 extra-base hits, with James Yezzo and Wilman Rodriguez both doubling twice.

Manny Rodriguez’s return to the NYPL after missing the past two seasons with multiple elbow surgeries* was untriumphant as the Jammers edged the Doubledays, 3-2. The 25-y.o. Cuban was lit up for all three Jamestown runs on four hits and a walk over the 6th and 7th innings. Starter Andres Martinez was also back in town after five appearances in the GCL and turned in five shutout innings, with one and three hits given up and four strikeouts. Cody Gunter led off the 5th with a solo HR while rehabbing Cutter Dykstra doubled two batters and scored on fielding error to account for the two Auburn runs as the Doubledays were held to just five hits total.* Two TJ’s, which I guess makes him a Double National?

Jamestown struck for three in the 4th and held off Auburn for another 3-2 win to sweep the doubleheader and take the series, 2-1. Travis Ott was juiced for all three Jammer runs on three hits and three walks over three and 2/3rds innings. The Doubledays ‘pen held them scoreless the rest of the way but the offense was unable to push across the tying runs, held to to seven hits with Osvaldo Abreu, “Orange” Marmolejos-Diaz, and Clay Williamson each going 2-for-3.Roster move: RHP Anderson Martinez reassigned from GCL Nationals.

The D-Nats got a field goal and went for two in the 4th quart, er inning as they rode the 11-run outburst to a 21-10 win over the D-Mariners. Francys Peguero homered and drove in five while Jeyner Baez went 4-for-5 with everything but the big fly to lead the 16-hit assault. Juan Bermudez let up four unearned runs over five innings to earn his third win. Yonathan Ramirez stranded one of two runners, gave up three runs on five hits over three innings for the rulebook save.

A feeble Harrisburg offense fielded a lineup of hitters whose highest batting average is now Caleb Ramsey’s .259 (Michael Taylor is out with a wrist injury). Not surprisingly, offense was a problem in a 2-1 loss to powerhouse Richmond, a team that will make a run at the Eastern League crown and presently has a 65-44 record. A committee of four Flying Squirrels yielded only one unearned run in the 2nd that gave Harrisburg a short-lived 1-0 lead. Brian Dupra took his fifth loss despite pitching well enough to win. The first “earned” run was aided by a throwing error by Cole Leonida when Squirrely Squirrel Kelby Tomlinson not only stole second but also advanced to third on the error. A single, a walk, and a single resulted in the second, decisive in the 5th inning run in a tidy 2-1 loss.Roster moves: IFs Ricky Hague, Jose Lozada placed on the 7-Day DL; C Mitch Canham activated from 7-Day DL.

Myrtle Beach connected for six runs on six straight two-out hits in the 2nd and, like their moniker, dropped a couple more deuces in the 3rd and 4th innings en route to an 11-2 win over Potomac. Dakota Bacuse was eviscerated for ten runs on 14 hits and two walks over just three and a 1/3rd innings. Brian Rauh, who suffered a similar fate last Friday, came on in relief and saved the bullpen for a cause less lost with four and 2/3rds innings of one-run relief, which came via the only HR of the 16 hits the Pelicans pounded out. Shawn Pleffner singled twice and walked twice to lead the Potomac response of just eight hits.

Reynaldo Lopez returned to Low-A with a vengeance, tossing six scoreless innings as Hagerstown blanked Greenville, 4-0. Lopez struck out a season-high of nine will letting up two hits and walking two. David Napoli set down all nine batters he faced to close out the game for his third Low-A save and fourth overall. James Yezzo doubled and homered and scored two runs to lead the Suns offense, which saw the bottom third account for five of its seven hits and three of the four RBI.Roster move: LHP David Napoli reassigned from Auburn.

Auburn vs. Jamestown — PPD
The storms that sent Syracuse and Gwinnett packing also gave Auburn and Jamestown the night off. They’ll make it up with a pair of seven-inning games tonight at Falcon Park.

The G-Nats took advantage of an error, a misplay, and a wild pitch to score thrice in the 10th for 7-4 win over the G-Marlins. Weston Davis got the start but was roughed up for two runs on four hits over three innings with no walks and three strikeouts. Five different batters had multiple hits as the G-Nats pounded out 13 hits on the afternoon, with Kelvin Gutierrez leading the total base column with a single and a double while drawing a walk. John Feliz got the win in relief with three scoreless innings, with one hit and one walk allowed and four set down on strikes.

The D-Nats scored in eight of nine innings while outslugging the D-Mariners for a 12-9 victory. Led by Telmito Agustin with two hits, two walks, and two stolen bases, the D-Nats totaled 13, nine, and six in each of those categories. Starter Steven Fuentes went the first four innings, but was dinged for three runs on six hits and two walks while striking out four. The win went to Ramses Rosario while Fiyeral Charlis struck out the side in the 9th for the save.

The moves first heard here in the comments are now being officially confirmed as 1B-3B John Wooten has been promoted from Low-A Hagerstown to Potomac and IF Oscar Tejeda has been promoted from Potomac to Harrisburg.

Wooten has been on a tear since returning to the Suns lineup earlier this month after taking a pitch to the face in mid-June, hanging a .413/.423/.652 line with 2HRs and 15 RBI in 12 games. Overall, he’s hitting .309 with eight HR and 54 RBI in 72 games for Hagerstown. The 23-y.o. was acquired last November from Oakland in a trade for Fernando Abad.

In a related move, OF Brandon Miller’s rehab stint with Auburn has been completed and he’ll be returning to the P-Nats. Miller had strained a hamstring in Frederick in mid-May and missed more than two months before returning to action in the GCL for six games, then spending a series with the Doubledays to play back into game shape.

Lucas Giolito and Oscar Tejeda were named the Pitcher of the Week and Player of the Week for the Sally and Carolina Leagues, respectively for the week of July 21-27.

Giolito was near-perfect on Friday night, giving up a leadoff single then retiring the next 18 batters in a row — including seven by way of the K — for six shutout innings and his second Pitcher of the Week award during the month of July. Since returning to action in early June after a three-week layoff in May, the 20-year-old has won four of nine starts and posted a 2.22 ERA over 44⅔ innings with 52 strikeouts, 11 walks, and four HR’s allowed.

Tejeda blasted home runs nos. 15 & 16 last night, including a towering shot off the Pftizner stadium scoreboard that gave the P-Nats a 6-5 walkoff win in 11 innings. The 24-y.o. batted .438 (14-for-32) with four doubles and eight RBI during the week and has been reportedly reassigned to Harrisburg, which wourld return him to the E.L. where he spent the 2011 and 2012 season with Portland and 2013 with Altoona.

Oscar Tejeda homered in the 1st to get Potomac on the scoreboard first, then homered in the 11th off the scoreboard for the last Potomac run and a 6-5 walkoff win to complete the three-game sweep of Carolina.

The HR also snapped a seven-inning scoring drought, as the P-Nats jumped out to a 5-1 lead after three innings while literally knocking out Mudcat starter Dylan Baker with a screamer back to the mound off the bat of Estarlin Martinez that bounded off what appeared to be the noggin as he crumpled in a heap by the mound. He walked off the field under his own power.

Meanwhile, Hector Silvestre made his 2014 debut for the P-Nats and turned in a quality start of three runs on six hits over six innings, but all three runs came via the longball with a solo blast in the 3rd and a two-run blast in the 6th. He would walk none and strike out six without issuing a walk, and left in position to win with a 5-3 lead.

Travis Henke would blow the save with two runs given up in the 7th to allow the Mudcats to tie it at 5-5. He would follow his Mr. Hyde inning with a Dr. Jekyll 8th before giving way to Jake Walsh, who pitched around baserunners in each of his three innings for htis third win in six appearances.

The win, which was the 13th in walkoff fashion, was also the fourth straight for Potomac. Combined with a Wilmington loss extends the P-Nats lead to two games in the C.L. North. The homestand continues with three against Myrtle Beach in a battle of the 2014 first-half champs. Dakota Bacus (3-5, 3.58) gets the ball for the P-Nats versus Chad James (1-1, 5.59) for the Pelicans.

Syracuse starter Blake Treinen played the role of stopper last night. His victory over the Gwinett Braves ended a three-game losing streak for the Chiefs with seven innings that showed he may yet contribute to the MLB club’s pennant race. Treinin only struck out one batter in a ruthlessly efficient outing in which he yielded only two runs in seven innings on a total of 76 pitches. A leadoff hit by pitch and sacrifice bunt by Gwinnett resulted in an eventual RBI single by Syrcause nemesis Jose “No Soy Jorge!” Constanza. Tyler Pastornicky’s double in the top of the 6th preceded a sacrifice fly by Brandon “Wish I Was Wade” Boggs that scored Elmer “Wish I Was Jose” Reyes, who had singled to start the inning. Syracuse’s offense supported Treinen with a “picket fence” of single runs in the second, third, and fourth highlighted by Steven “Phone” Souza’s 17th homer in the third, a solo shot. The offense generously scored just enough runs to allow Rafael “Not Tisha Campbell’s Husband” Martin to record his first save as a Syracuse Chief this season.Roster move: LHP Zach Jackson released.

Rain suspended this one with one out in the bottom of the 12th with New Hampshire leading, 9-7. Harrisburg couldn’t hold leads of 2-0 and 5-4, but rallied to tie in the 9th to send it into extras. Matt Skole doubled three times and drove in three while Kevin Keyes homered again. The two teams will complete this next month when the Senators make their final road trip up 95 to Manchester (not by the sea) and Portland.Roster moves: RHP Paolo Espino activated from 3-Day TIL, LHP Chris Manno released.

The Suns pitchers didn’t miss many bats as they gave up 13 hits and walked eight in an 8-4 loss to the Drive. Brett Mooneyham somehow managed to only give up two runs on five hits, five walks, a hit batsman, and three wild pitches and escaped the loss, which went to Ryan Ullmann. James Yezzo singled three times while Cody Dent tripled twice and scored twice to lead the Hagerstown hit parade.

Auburn would take advantage of multiple miscues in the 5th to score three times and outduel Jamestown, 3-1. Robbie Dickey rebounded for a poor outing with four scoreless innings on two hits, with no walks and two strikeouts to his credit. The win went to Mario Sanchez, though he served up a solo shot in the 7th and three hits total over three innings with nary a walk or a whiff. Chase McDowell closed out the game with two perfect frames for the save. Raudy Read (double), Cody Gunter (single), and “Orange” Marmolejos-Diaz (sac fly) accounted for two of the three Doubleday hits and all three RBI.Roster moves: RHP Manny Rodriguez reassigned from the GCL to Auburn for minor-league rehab from Hagerstown; IF Cutter Dykstra assigned from Harrisburg for minor-league rehab.

GCL Nationals — OFF DAY
With one month to go, the G-Nats are tied with the G-Mets, four games behind the G-Cards in the GCL East. After a 3-3 week, it’s three against the division (and league) cellar-dweller G-Marlins then three against the Mets, with home games on Tuesday and Friday.

DSL Nationals — OFF DAY
Like the G-Nats, the D-Nats are a shade over .500 with four weeks left but further back at 10 games off the pace for the division and six behind the Wild Card leader. Thanks to the reset afforded by the All-Star Break, it’s a trio of away-home games this week against the Mariners, Cardinals, and Orioles2.

Revenge was sweet for former Chief Atahualpa “Huapa-Time” Severino, and one-time P-Nats closer. Gwinnett jumped out to a 2-0 lead over starter Aaron Laffey in the 1st, but Laffey righted the ship and gave up nothing else during his six innings of work. A Steven Souza three-run clout in the 3rd that scored Emmanuel Burriss and Eury Perez looked like it would be enough. Sean Kazmar, apparently the Bravest Brave, stole home off Syracuse southpaw Xavier Cedeno after leading off with single, advancing to second on another single, and advancing to third on a ground out to by Jose “No Jorge” Constanza in the 9th. Cedeno later gave up the losing run in the 10th on a Christian Behthancourt solo homer to left. Left-Handed One Out Guy (LOOGY) Severino of Gwinnett became a winner and Left Handed Two Outs Guy when he induced a line out by Will Rhymes to complete the 9th and began the 10th with a ground out by Greg “Grinding Souldrmmer’s Gears” Dobbs. Juan Jaime slammed the door and struck out the final two Chiefs to record his sixteenth save.

While Mike Rizzo might have preferred more than just two strikeouts, winner Scott McGregor stymied the New Hampshire Fisher Cats for six shutout innings. Caleb Ramsey tripled in the home half of the first, and Harrisburg subsequently got the only run it would need on a Jose Lozada sacrifice fly. Jason Martinson decided he wants to get on Souldrummer’s “Good, Bad like Michael Jackson, and The Most Interesting Man on the Senators.” He continued his hot July by extending the lead to 2-0 with a solo shot in the 2nd and adding a single that contributed to a third run in the 4th. Paul Demny pitched two shutout innings for his second hold, and Robert Benincasa pitched a scoreless 9th for his fourth save. The lack of earlier strikeouts by McGregor allowed Ric Flair to shout one of his loudest “WOOOOOS!” of the season when the game ended in a whiff.

Mike McQuillan drove in the first and the last run for Potomac as they walked off with a 3-2 win over Carolina despite being outhit 13-6. Starter Ian Dickson scattered eight hits over five and 2/3rds innings for just one run. He walked one and struck out four. Pedro Encarnacion got the win, though he let in the tying run in the top of the 9th. McQuillan launched a solo shot in the bottom of the 2nd and singled in Stephen Perez, who led off the bottom of the 9th with his second walk and took second on a Randolph Oduber sacrifice. Perez’s first walk plated Tony Renda to give Potomac a 2-1 lead in the 6th.

A 4-0 lead wasn’t enough “For The Weekend” as the Drive edged the Suns, 6-5. Wirkin Estevez gave up two-spots in the 3rd and 4th innings after cruising through the first two innings unscathed to finish with four runs allowed on four hits and three walks over four innings. Andrew Cooper took the loss with the final two runs let in over his four innings of relief. John Wooten and Rafael Bautista both went 3-for-5 and combined for two runs scored (Bautista) and two RBI (Wooten) but the Hagerstown lineup struggled in the clutch, going just 3-for-14 and left on 11 baserunners.

The Doubledays got a little bit of revenge for the Friday-night smackdown as they ran over the Spikes, 7-1. Drew Van Orden, who suffered an eight-hit, eight-run assault on July 8th, got his first professional win with five innings of one-run ball. He walked none, fanned three, and gave up four hits, with the one run coming on a solo HR in the 4th. Jeff Gardner wasn’t “bad” as he singled twice and doubled once to lead Auburn’s ten-hit parade, followed by Garrett Gordon and “Orange” Marmolejos-Diaz, who both went 2-for-5.

The G-Cards exploded for four in the 9th to hand the G-Nats a 5-1 loss to close out the week. Felipe Rivero put in a scoreless inning as a rehab starter before giving way to Luis Reyes, who turned in five innings of one-run ball with seven hits allowed and no walks. Cole Plouck took the loss with the aforementioned four-run inning. The G-Nats were held to just five hits with Randy Encarnacion the sole batter to reach base twice with a single and a double.Roster move: LHP Felipe Rivero assigned from Harrisburg for minor-league rehab.

Malvin Pena melted down with two out in the 9th, giving up a double, unleashing a wild pitch, and letting in the gamewinner with a single as the D-Mets1 took another one from the D-Nats, 4-3. Starter Wilber Pena had a one-hit shutout going into the 5th when he gave up a solo HR. He left with two outs in the 6th with a 2-1 lead but the bases loaded. Angher Cespedes blew the save in typical DSL fashion with a wild pitch, the first of three to go with three walks over the next two and a 1/3rd innings. Israel Mota and Anderson Franco both went 3-for-4 with an RBI as the D-Nats stranded nine baserunners and struck out 11 times for the game.